Asylum seekers lose home battle

The court ruled the family's human rights were intact

A family of Kosovan asylum seekers has been told by High Court judges they cannot choose where they want to live.

In a test case, the court ruled the government is not obliged to take special account of where and in what type of housing destitute asylum seekers should stay.

The decision will affect many other similar cases.

A senior judge on Thursday rejected accusations by the family that their human rights had been infringed because their preferences were not considered.

Homes offered

The court rejected an application for judicial review by Drita Hetoja, 44.

She and her 48-year-old husband Tahir and their three grown-up children all came to the UK from Kosovo in September 1998 and settled in Leicester.

They were moved into a hostel but claimed it was not suitable and were offered alternative accommodation in Barnsley and elsewhere in Leicester.

But the family rejected both of these alternatives saying they were also unsuitable.

Mr Justice Lightman said their complaint was that under the 1999 Immigration and Asylum Act authorities are required to ignore asylum seekers' housing preferences.

Two grandchildren

Their lawyers argued this contravened Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees respect for private and family life.

Rejecting the challenge, the judge said the Home Secretary should provide "what appears to him to be adequate accommodation" pending a final decision on whether asylum seekers were entitled to remain in the country.

Applications for asylum by the parents and their youngest son Elvis, 19, had earlier been refused and their appeals against refusal dismissed.

The Hetoja's are now at the final appeal stage to stay in the country.

Their second son, Artur, 22, lives in Bedford and was not involved in Thursday's challenge.

Their eldest son, Petrit, 26, is pursuing a separate asylum claim, having recently married a UK citizen who has given birth to two children, now aged 18 months and three months respectively.